1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to floor drains and, more particularly, to a floor drain support plate.
2. Description of Related Art
Presently, floor drains are initially installed utilizing a drain body that can receive either a clamp collar, which receives either a dome or frame, or a frame which also serves as a clamp collar for receipt of a grate. Such prior art floor drain arrangements are manufactured, for example, by Zurn Industries, Inc.
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a typical prior art floor drain 10 includes a receptacle body 12 having a first end 14 and a pipe receiving second end 16 and defining a body cavity 20. The first end 14 of the body 12 includes an annular flange 22 extending away from the cavity 20 of the receptacle body 12. A plurality of spaced apart protrusions 24, preferably four (two are shown and two on an opposite side are not shown in FIGS. 1 and 2), are defined adjacent the first end 14 of the receptacle body 12 underneath the flange 22 and extending in a direction away from the cavity 20 of the receptacle body 12. Each protrusion 24 defines a passageway 26 which can be internally threaded and adapted to receive a fastener F (shown in phantom in FIG. 1). The second end 16 of the receptacle body 12 is adapted to fasten to a drain pipe P (shown in phantom in FIG. 2).
With continued reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, in a prior art method of installing a prior art floor drain 10 in a floor structure, a bore 27 is first cut in a block S, preferably made of Styrofoam® material, and the second end 16 of the receptacle body 12 is placed within the bore 27 of the block S (shown in FIG. 1). The block S is then placed on a wooden board B, such as plywood, and a wire W is wrapped around the receptacle body 12 and secured to the board B via a nail N, as shown in FIG. 1. The floor drain 10 secured on the wooden board B is set in position in the cavity (not shown) in the floor structure (not shown), and concrete C is poured around the receptacle body 12 and the block S, and is allowed to set. The board B is then removed from underneath the floor structure and the block S is chiseled away from the concrete C, thereby creating a void V between the concrete C and the second end 16 of the receptacle body 12 (see FIG. 2). The wire W and the nails are left embedded in the concrete C and any portions of wires W and/or nails N protruding from the concrete are trimmed.
One drawback to the prior art floor drain installation is that the height H (shown in FIG. 1) between the first end 14 of the receptacle body 12 and the board B cannot be adjusted without either cutting the block S or replacing the block S with a larger or smaller block. Another drawback to the prior art method is that installation time is increased because the block S has to be chiseled away from the embedded concrete C. This drawback is eliminated by using the support plate disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0166315 and discussed in more detail below.
Although the support plate of U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0166315 can be used to adjust the height H, there are limitations. More particularly, the support plate is acceptable for use on floor structures having a flat surface; however, it is not easily adapted for use on floor structures having a corrugated surface.
As can be appreciated by those skilled in the art, it would be advantages to have a support plate that is designed for use on floor structures having a flat surface, or a corrugated surface.